This resource is part of the Science Education Gateway (SEGway) project, funded by NASA, which is a national consortium of scientists, museums, and educators working together to bring the latest science to students, teachers, and the general public. In this lesson, students use the Internet to research data on earthquakes and volcanoes and plot locations to determine plate boundaries. Extensions include interpretation of interaction between plate boundaries, causes of earthquakes and volcanoes, and the comparison of the formation of Olympus Mons on Mars and the Hawaiian volcanic chain. There are worksheets, references, assessment ideas, and vocabulary available for educators.

Intended for grade levels:

Middle (6-8)

Type of resource:

For the classroom:

Guide for instructor

Lesson plan

Subject:

Geological Sciences:

Geology

Natural hazards

Technical requirements:

No specific technical requirements, just a browser required

Cost / Copyright:

No cost

Copyright 1995-2002 Regents of the University of California. We encourage individual users, teachers, and students to make classroom-based, not-for-profit use of the materials available through the UC Berkeley Center for Science Education at Space Sciences Laboratory (CSE@SSL) and its World Wide Web site. All our materials are copyright of the University of California Regents with the exception of data and images from NASA and other sources which may be in the public domain or subject to their own copyright restrictions.

DLESE Catalog ID:DLESE-000-000-002-456

Educational standards:

National Science Education Standards (NSES):

5-8:

A - Science as inquiry:

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

Understanding about scientific inquiry

B - Physical science:

Transfer of energy

D - Earth and space science:

Earth's history

Structure of the earth system

F - Science in personal / social perspectives:

Natural hazards

National Geography Standards:

Physical systems:

The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface

The world in spatial terms:

How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information